Heat exchanger plate

ABSTRACT

In a heat exchanger plate, machine time required for processing can be shortened, production costs can be reduced, and a penetration bead of a weld can be prevented from intruding into a flow channel, thereby preventing the weld from deforming a cover section. The heat exchanger plate comprises: a flat main body on a surface of which is formed at least one first groove having a rectangular cross-sectional shape; and a cover which has substantially the same shape as the first groove in plan view and which is formed such that when embedded in the first groove, a rear face thereof contacts a bottom of the first groove and opposite side faces thereof contact opposite side faces of the first groove, and a surface thereof is substantially flush with that of the main body, wherein there is provided a second groove formed extending along the opposite side faces at a center of the rear face, and the cover is joined to the main body by friction stir welding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger plate comprising flow channels through which a cooling medium or heating medium passes.

2. Description of Related Art

One example of such a heat exchanger plate is a backing plate used to hold a target material during a sputtering process of a liquid crystal manufacturing device (for example Japanese Patent No. 3,818,084).

However, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3,818,084, a problem occurs in that because the cross-sectional shape of the flow channel (water passage) processed into a top face (surface) of the main body has a complex shape (T shape), processing this flow channel requires a large amount of machine time, which increases production costs.

Furthermore, although the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3,818,084 proposes the use of the simplest cross-sectional shape (a rectangle) for the flow channel processed into the top face of the main body, in this case the weld is formed in the vicinity of the flow channel, which presents a danger of the penetration bead of the weld intruding into the flow channel.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger plate in which the machine time required for processing can be shortened, and production costs can be reduced, and in which the penetration bead of the weld can be prevented from intruding into the flow channel, thereby preventing the weld from deforming the cover section.

In order to resolve these problems, the present invention employs the following means.

A heat exchanger plate according to the present invention comprises: a flat main body on a surface of which is formed at least one first groove having a rectangular cross-sectional shape; and a cover which has substantially the same shape as the first groove in plan view and which is formed such that when embedded in the first groove, a rear face thereof contacts a bottom of the first groove and opposite side faces thereof contact opposite side faces of the first groove, and a surface thereof is substantially flush with that of the main body, wherein there is provided a second groove formed extending along the opposite side faces at a center of the rear face, and the cover is joined to the main body by friction stir welding.

In the heat exchanger plate according to the present invention, because the cross-sectional shape of the first groove processed into the top face (surface) of the main body has the simplest cross-sectional shape (a rectangle), the machine time required to process the first groove can be shortened, and production costs can be reduced.

Furthermore, because the second groove which forms the flow channel is formed at the center of the bottom face (rear) of the cover, the load applied to the cover when the main body and cover are welded together can be transmitted to the bottom of the first groove, that is the main body, via the edges of the cover whose height is substantially equal to the depth of the first groove, and consequently intrusion of the penetration bead of the weld into the flow channel can be prevented, and deformation of the cover resulting from the welding process can be prevented.

In addition, because the edges of the cover are formed so as to have a height substantially equal to the depth of the first groove, the rigidity of the cover in its entirety can be improved, the width of the second groove can be increased, and the width of the flow channel can be increased, thereby enabling an increase in the cross-sectional area of the flow channel.

The heat exchanger plate according to the present invention comprises: a flat main body on a surface of which is formed at least one first groove having a rectangular cross-sectional shape; and a flat cover which covers an entire surface of the main body, and on a rear face of which is formed a protrusion whose top face contacts a bottom of the first groove and whose opposite side faces contact opposite side faces of the first groove, when the cover is superposed on the surface of the main body, wherein there is provided a second groove formed extending along the opposite side faces at a center of the top face, and the cover is joined to the main body by friction stir welding.

According to the heat exchanger plate according to the present invention, because the cross-sectional shape of the first groove processed into the top face (surface) of the main body has the simplest cross-sectional shape (a rectangle), the machine time required to process the first groove can be shortened, and production costs can be reduced.

Furthermore, because the second groove which forms the flow channel is formed at the center of the top face of the protrusion, the load applied to the cover when the main body and cover are welded together can be transmitted to the bottom of the first groove, that is the main body, via the edges of the protrusion whose height is substantially equal to the depth of the first groove, and consequently intrusion of the penetration bead of the weld into the flow channel can be prevented, and deformation of the cover resulting from the welding process can be prevented.

In addition, because the edges of the protrusion are formed so as to have a height substantially equal to the depth of the first groove, the rigidity of the cover in its entirety can be improved, the width of the second groove can be increased, and the width of the flow channel can be increased, thereby enabling an increase in the cross-sectional area of the flow channel.

According to the present invention, there is the effect that the machine time required for processing can be shortened, production costs can be reduced, intrusion of the penetration bead of the weld into the flow channel can be prevented, and deformation of the cover by the welding process can be prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a heat exchanger plate according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a similar figure to FIG. 2 showing a partial cross-sectional view of a heat exchanger plate according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

A first embodiment of a heat exchanger plate according to the present invention is described below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a heat exchanger plate according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the heat exchanger plate (referred to hereafter as “backing plate”) 1 according to the present embodiment comprises a main body 2 and a cover 3.

The main body 2, for example, is a flat member produced from oxygen-free copper or a copper alloy containing 5% or less Zr or Cr, having a rectangular shape in plan view which is approximately 2350 mm long, 2010 mm wide, and 15 mm deep. Furthermore, a (first) groove 4 having a U-shape in plan view and a rectangular shape in cross-section and/or a groove 4 having a wave shape in plan view and a rectangular shape in cross-section is provided on a top face (surface) 2 a of this main body 2.

The cover 3 is a plate member formed so as to have the same shape in plan view as the groove 4, such that when the cover 3 is embedded in the groove 4, a lower face (rear surface) 3 a of the cover contacts a bottom 4 a of the groove 4, and side faces 3 b thereof contact side faces 4 b of the groove 4, such that a top face (surface) 3 c thereof is coplanar with the top face 2 a of the main body (thereby forming a flush surface). Furthermore, at the center of the lower face 3 a of the cover 3 is provided a (second) groove 5 which is rectangular in cross-section and is formed so as to extend along the side faces 3 b. In addition, a void formed when the cover 3 is engaged in the groove 4 (more specifically the void enclosed by the groove 5 and the bottom 4 a of the groove 4) serves as a flow channel 6 through which a cooling medium or heating medium passes.

The main body 2 and the cover 3 are joined by friction stir welding (FSW). Friction stir welding is a welding method that involves inserting a rotating tool 9 comprising a shoulder section 7 and a pin section 8 as shown in FIG. 2, into the joint (boundary: joint line) between the main body 2 and the cover 3, and rotating the rotating tool 9 as it moves along the joint.

Furthermore, when the main body 2 and the cover 3 are joined by friction stir welding, a plurality (2 in the present embodiment) of independent flow channels 6 are formed in the backing plate 1 (the flow channel 6 formed between the bottom 4 a of the groove 4 having a U shape in plan view and the groove 5 formed on the lower face 3 a of the cover 3 having a U shape in plan view, and the flow channel 6 formed between the bottom 4 a of the groove 4 having a wave shape in plan view and the groove 5 formed on the lower face 3 a of the cover 3 having a wave shape in plan view). Furthermore, after the welding process, an inlet for the cooling or heating medium is provided at one end of each flow channel 6, and an outlet for the cooling or heating medium is provided at the other end.

According to the backing plate 1 according to the present embodiment, because the groove 4 processed into the top face 2 a of the main body 2 has the simplest cross-sectional shape (a rectangle), the machine time required to process the groove 4 can be shortened, and production costs can be reduced.

Furthermore, because the groove 5 which forms the flow channel 6 is formed at the center of the bottom face 3 a of the cover 3, the load applied to the cover 3 when the main body 2 and cover 3 are welded together can be transmitted to the bottom 4 a of the groove 4, that is the main body 2, via the edges of the cover 3 whose height is substantially equal to the depth of the groove 4, and consequently intrusion of the penetration bead of the weld into the flow channel 6 can be prevented, and deformation of the cover 3 resulting from the welding process can be prevented.

In addition, because the edges of the cover 3 are formed so as to have a height substantially equal to the depth of the groove 4, the rigidity of the cover 3 in its entirety can be improved, the width of the groove 5 can be increased, and the width of the flow channel 6 can be increased, enabling an increase in the cross-sectional area of the flow channel 6.

Embodiment 2

A second embodiment of a backing plate according to the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a similar figure to FIG. 2 showing a partial cross-sectional view of a backing plate according to the present embodiment.

The backing plate according to the present embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment described above in that a cover 13 is provided instead of the cover 3. Other components are the same as those in embodiment 1, and hence description of these components is omitted here.

Those members the same as in embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference symbols.

The cover 13, which covers the entire top face 2 a of the main body 2, is a flat member having a rectangular shape in plan view with dimensions of 2350 mm long and 2010 mm wide. Furthermore, on the bottom face (rear) 13 a of the cover 13 is formed a protrusion 14 whose top face 14 a contacts the bottom 4 a of the groove 4 and whose side faces 14 b contact the side faces 4 b of the groove 4 when the cover 13 is superposed on the top face 2 a of the main body 2. In addition, a (second) groove 5 which is rectangular in cross-section and is formed along both side faces 14 b, is provided in the center of the top face 14 a of the protrusion 14. Furthermore, the void formed when the protrusion 14 is engaged in the groove 4 (more specifically the void enclosed by the groove 5 and the bottom 4 a of the groove 4) serves as the flow channel 6 through which a cooling medium or heating medium passes.

The main body 2 and the cover 13 are joined by friction stir welding (FSW). Friction stir welding is a welding method that involves inserting a rotating tool 9 comprising a shoulder section 7 and a pin section 8 as shown in FIG. 3, into the joint (boundary: joint line) between the main body 2 and the cover 3 which extends along the thickness direction of the plate, and rotating the rotating tool 9 as it moves along the joint.

Furthermore, when joining the main body 2 and the cover 13 are joined by friction stir welding, a plurality (2 in the present embodiment) of independent flow channels 6 are formed in the backing plate (the flow channel 6 formed between the bottom 4 a of the groove 4 having a U shape in plan view and the groove 5 formed on the top face 14 a of the protrusion 14 having a U shape in plan view, and the flow channel 6 formed between the bottom 4 a of the groove 4 having a wave shape in plan view and the groove 5 formed on the top face 14 a of the protrusion 14 having a wave shape in plan view). Furthermore, after the welding process, an inlet for the cooling or heating medium is provided at one end of each flow channel 6, and an outlet for the cooling or heating medium is provided at the other end.

According to the backing plate 1 according to the present embodiment, because the cross-sectional shape of the groove 4 processed into the top face 2 a of the main body 2 has the simplest cross-sectional shape (a rectangle), the machine time required to process the groove 4 can be shortened, and production costs can be reduced.

Furthermore, because the groove 5 which forms the flow channel 6 is formed at the center of the top face 14 a of the protrusion 14, the load applied to the cover 13 when the main body 2 and cover 13 are joined can be transmitted to the bottom 4 a of the groove 4, that is the main body 2, via the edges of the protrusion 14 whose height is substantially equal to the depth of the groove 4, and consequently intrusion of the penetration bead of the weld into the flow channel 6 can be prevented, and deformation of the cover 13 resulting from the welding process can be prevented.

In addition, because the edges of the protrusion 14 are formed so as to have a height substantially equal to the depth of the groove 4, the rigidity of the cover 13 in its entirety can be improved, the width of the groove 5 can be increased, and the width of the flow channel 6 can be increased, thereby enabling an increase in the cross-sectional area of the flow channel 6.

The present embodiment can be used with a reduced plate thickness by grinding or polishing the top face (surface) of the cover 13 after the main body 2 and the cover 13 are welded together until the state shown in FIG. 2 is obtained, that is, until the entire surface 2 a of the main body 2 is exposed.

Furthermore, the heat exchanger plate according to the present invention can be applied not only to the backing plate described in the embodiments above, but also to any object with the same form or function used in an array formation process. 

1. A heat exchanger plate comprising: a flat main body on a surface of which is formed at least one first groove having a rectangular cross-sectional shape; and a cover which has substantially the same shape as said first groove in plan view and which is formed such that when embedded in said first groove, a rear face thereof contacts a bottom of said first groove and opposite side faces thereof contact opposite side faces of said first groove, and a surface thereof is substantially flush with that of said main body, wherein there is provided a second groove formed extending along said opposite side faces at a center of said rear face, and said cover is joined to said main body by friction stir welding.
 2. A heat exchanger plate comprising: a flat main body on a surface of which is formed at least one first groove having a rectangular cross-sectional shape; and a flat cover which covers an entire surface of said main body, and on a rear face of which is formed a protrusion whose top face contacts a bottom of said first groove and whose opposite side faces contact opposite side faces of said first groove, when the cover is superposed on the surface of said main body, wherein there is provided a second groove formed extending along said opposite side faces at a center of said top face, and said cover is joined to said main body by friction stir welding. 